There was an uproar over comments made by The Walt Disney Company Chief Financial Officer, Christine McCarthy, in regards to food portions and Disney Parks guests’ “waistlines”. In a world where someone is likely offended by anything a person or company could say, this was one of those moments where a company executive actually let slip a comment that is intrinsically abrasive. Theme parks aren’t known for healthy fare, so it didn’t come across as authentic that Mrs. McCarthy is worried about guest health instead of a cynical attempt at lowering delivered product at Disney Parks for the same (or more) cost.
“We have things on the cost of goods side. And it’s interesting. Just last week … I was talking to our parks senior team about things we could do there. And there are lots of things that are worth talking about. We can adjust suppliers. We can substitute products. We can cut portion size, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines.” — Christine McCarthy, Q4 The Walt Disney Company Earnings Call
For context, this is the same Christine McCarthy who said Disney filming the live action remake of Mulan near concentration camps, and thanking the local Chinese government that imprisons Uighur Muslims, had “generated publicity” for the film’s box office opportunity:
The move by Disney to credit Chinese agencies was immediately met with a fierce backlash. Critics demanded that Disney clarify its dealings with authorities in Xinjiang, while some social media users called for people to boycott the movie.Asked by an analyst on Thursday whether she thought the controversy would affect the film’s performance, McCarthy demurred.“I’m not a box office predictor [or] prognosticator,” she said. “But I will say that it has generated a lot of publicity.”Earlier this week, McCarthy told investors at a separate conference that the studio was “very pleased” with the initial response to the film’s release over the Labor Day holiday weekend.
